Land vehicles – Wheeled – Coasters
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-11
2001-08-14
Vanaman, Frank (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Coasters
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273440
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to sports boards that are ridden by a person standing upon them, and more specifically to one whose basic structure is an elongated metal board. Some examples of sports boards are skateboards, snowboards and wakeboards.
The earliest skateboards were made of a plain flat piece of wood. Later models were made of other materials and had improved structure. The Gaber U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,326 discloses an improved skateboard having a replaceable arc-tail with a wear surface and further having wheels wells.
The Stevenson U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,520 discloses a skateboard structure having a central platform formed of a top piece and a bottom piece. The two pieces may be shaped to define an inner surface of cellular configuration so that when the two pieces are fitted together they define an internal reinforcing honeycomb-like core. The Stevenson U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,963 discloses the top and bottom pieces being formed of appropriate injection molded plastic material, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate, plexiglass, or other plastic material which is susceptible to injection molding; or aluminum casting or compression molded fiberglass; or any other material which may be molded or cast.
The Meredith U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,907 discloses a skateboard having a front member and a rear member and structure for allowing the length of the skateboard to be extended or retracted.
The Scheurer et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,063 discloses a reaction injection molded recreation board with spaced rectangular reinforcing rods. The rods are rectangular in cross section and are disposed between upper and lower surfaces of the board.
The Smisek U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,734 discloses a hollow elongated board having openings, formed in the underside of the board, adapted to receive standard skateboard wheels. The skateboard further employs wheel ramps on opposite sides of each wheel to provide a smooth under surface to aid in negotiation of large obstacles such as curbs, stairs, etc. and to allow the skateboard to glide over smaller objects.
In the late 1970's, an American skateboard manufacturer made his boards of aluminum plate material. These boards proved to be too heavy and too expensive and were not very popular. The edges of the skateboard, after heavy use, became razorblade sharp and were extremely dangerous.
The inventors recognized the problems of the prior art aluminum metal skateboards when they attempted to make the skateboards out of flat sheet aluminum. The flat sheet metal bent in the middle and could not endure hard riding. It was then decided to go with a thicker piece of aluminum and cutout sections of the metal to make it lighter while still maintaining sufficient structural support. The problem of razorblade sharp edges still occurred with the metal board and the metal board was still too heavy. Additionally, it also bent or buckled in the middle of the board when it was subjected to hard use.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel metal board that is lightweight yet capable of withstanding the hard use of jumping actions by the rider and not bend or break.
It is another object of the invention to provide a metal board that could be used as a sports board that is ridden by a person standing upon it.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel metal board whose left and right edges have hollow or cavity-forming rails that are not subject to becoming razorblade sharp.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel metal board that could be used in multiple sports such as skateboarding, wakeboarding and snowboarding.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel metal board that is economical to manufacture and market.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The novel sports board has been designed to be formed of a light-weight metal material having one or more longitudinally elongated cavity-forming sections formed by multiple support walls in the board, thereby allowing it to be as light, thin and strong as possible. The strength imparted to the board by the multiple support walls allow the sports board to be ridden hard without worrying about the board bending or breaking. A preferred embodiment of the metal board is made of 6000 series T-6 aircraft aluminum. Different aluminum or titanium may be used depending upon the physical properties desired such as tensile strength, yield strength, weight, etc.
The use of the sports board as a skateboard subjects it to tremendous forces when the rider is performing jumps. For instance, a 200-lb. rider that jumps from a height of 3 feet and absorbs the impact by bending his knees 3.6 inches subjects the skateboard to a force of 2000 lbs. A jump from a height of 6 feet produces a force of 4000 lbs. These forces will break wooden and flat plate metal skateboards.
Static tests for different aluminum boards for skateboards produced the following data:
For a flat board 0.100 inch think (without rails)
Weight
Deflection
200 lbs.
1.07 inch
250 lbs.
1.34 inch
For a flat plate board 0.1875 inch thick (without rails)
Weight
Deflection
200 lbs.
.162 inch
250 lbs.
.203 inch
For a board according to the inventors' design with a plate 0.100 inch thick and with the two rails 0.500 inch high and 0.625 inch wide with walls having a thickness of 0.0625 inch.
Weight
Deflection
200
lbs.
.048 inch
250
lbs.
.060 inch
1000
lbs.
.240 inch
The weight of the hollow rail design above was well below 2.6 lbs. The weight of the board is thus lighter than either a wooden board or an aluminum plate board and much stronger than either of them.
The above advantages are obtained by a sports board adapted to be ridden by a person standing upon it. The sports board includes an elongated metal board having a front end, a rear end, a top surface, a bottom surface, a left edge and a right edge, and one or more longitudinally elongated cavity forming sections. This basic structure can be utilized as the basic component for sports boards such as skateboards, wakeboards and snowboards.
In an embodiment of the invention, wherein the elongated metal board includes a top wall, a bottom wall and N longitudinally elongated support walls that define N−1 longitudinally elongated cavity forming sections.
In another embodiment of the invention, the one or more longitudinally elongated cavity forming members extend from the front end to the rear end of the board.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the sports board is made of an aluminum or a titanium material.
In a still further embodiment of the invention, the metal board has an arcuate shaped front end and an arcuate shaped rear end. End guards made of a material such as plastic or wood may be secured to the front and the rear ends of the metal board.
In an additional embodiment of the invention, the metal board has a bent-up front tip portion and a bent-up rear tip portion.
In another embodiment of the invention, the metal sports board is designed for use as a skateboard, and accordingly, includes front and rear skateboard trucks secured to the bottom wall of the metal board.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the board deflects less than 0.162 in. with a load of 200 lbs.
In a still further embodiment of the invention, the board deflects less than 0.203 in. with a load of 250 lbs.
In an additional embodiment of the invention, at least one of the one or more longitudinally elongated cavity-forming sections includes a filler and the filler is a member selected from the group consisting of foam, foam plastic, wood, wood composite, compressed air, and an inflatable bladder.
In an additional embodiment of the invention, the one or more longitudinally elongated cavity-forming sections includes a generally rectangular cross section.
In an additional embodiment of the invention, the metal sports board includes a length L
1
of 24-60 inches, a width W
1
of 5-12 inches, and a height H
1
of 0.20-0.80 inches.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the metal sports board includes a length L
1
of 24-72 inches, a width W
1
of 6-25 inc
Lyon & Lyon LLP
Reno Wilson, Inc.
Vanaman Frank
LandOfFree
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